The Power of Word Choice in Influencer Marketing
The Wharton School has seen some incredible MBA students in its time – but perhaps few as visible as Alexis Barber.
Barber, 26, is a Wharton MBA student whose Too Smart for This podcast and Too Collective lifestyle brand have helped to catapult her into micro-influencer status on social media in the past five years (10,000 to 100,00 followers). Most recently, she logged more than 118,000 followers on TikTok alone.
Be Consistent, Be Yourself
Since she posted her first video at age 21, she has used TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, and beyond to generate more than half a million dollars in brand deals with some 70 brands. She’s published a book, built a six-figure product business (plush robes), held jobs at Google and YouTube, and collaborated with high-profile companies, including Bumble and Rare Beauty. According to Barber’s LinkedIn profile, she has experienced all sides of the creator economy as a “platform/corporate strategist, brand owner, marketer, and influencer.”
Barber has, by her own admission, scaled back on her workload to focus on her academics. Wharton Global Youth hopes to catch up with her soon for an interview. Until then, her content creation provides rich insight into personal branding and influencer marketing, where different brands work with people like Barber with a strong social media presence to promote their products or services.
So, we wondered: what has helped Barber stand out as an influencer who will appeal to brands, as well as build interest in brands?
“It’s about authenticity,” Barber stressed during an interview on the Side Hustle Pro podcast. “I think what makes people stand out is consistency and being themselves. The only thing that really will pop off is when you bring something new to the table. And usually, it’s just you and being yourself. If you’re too afraid to do that, you’ll stay stagnant.” Brands, she has said, typically seek influencers who have a strong, authentic relationship with their audience and can deliver content that aligns with the brand’s values and objectives.
The Influencer Movement
According to Sprout Social, in 2024 global spending on influencer marketing was estimated at $24 billion, up from $21.1 billion in 2023. While this market has been around for a while, it is always evolving – in part due to intrepid influencers like Alexis Barber, as well as academic research from marketing experts like Wharton’s Jonah Berger, who help guide and inform decision making and best practices for the business of marketing.
Photo: Knowledge@Wharton
Professor Berger has watched and studied the evolution of word-of-mouth marketing – from telling a friend about your favorite shampoo, to social media influencer dominance. “In the early 2010s, people were starting to realize that word of mouth is much more impactful than traditional advertising (selling products on TV and radio). We trust it much more because it feels like it comes from a peer rather than a company and it can be much more targeted,” said Professor Berger during a recent Knowledge@Wharton podcast. “Companies and organizations have spent the last decade and a half thinking, ‘Well, word of mouth is really valuable. How do we get it?’ Companies who were used to that traditional advertising model said, ‘I’m used to buying attention for my stuff. Is there a way to do that?’ That started the influencer movement. It’s in some sense a new type of paid media…Now I pay an “influencer,” an online individual who has some sort of following, to talk about my product, my service and share my message.”
Influencer marketing has its share of supporters and skeptics, making it ripe for research from professors like Dr. Berger, who seek to put evidence and data behind what can often be a very experiential approach to brand development. Specifically, Berger explores how ideas, products, and behaviors spread, examining why certain content goes viral and how social dynamics shape decision-making.
Juicy Research
In recent research, Berger concluded that paying attention to the use of sensory words can help social media influencers increase engagement. While advertisers have used images to convey sensory appeal, like a plump burger on a bun for example, not much research has gone into effective word choices for products. “Some words relate to our senses more than others,” he noted. “Sensory words really touch on our senses in some way shape or form. Rather than putting peanut butter on bread, I could spread it on that bread…steak could be really good, or it could be really juicy. Those latter words speak more to a sense of taste, smell, or touch…and relate to sensory experience.”
During the research process, Berger and his colleagues dug into the language that influencers use on social media. They studied a large data set of hundreds of different influencers posting thousands of pieces of content across multiple different platforms and, controlling for different factors like number of followers and brands they were working with, studied whether sensory words had a bigger impact. “In a variety of different domains, we found that using sensory language rather than this other type of language had an impact,” noted Berger. “In TikTok, for example, just one additional sensory word in a video was associated with 11,000 additional likes and comments.”
As a professor of consumer behavior, Berger was curious about why sensory language had such appeal, which he and his co-author Giovanni Luca Cascio Rizzo also studied. “What Luca pointed out is that influencers have a big challenge,” said Berger. “They’re talking about all these products and services, but people don’t know whether to trust them or not. Even if you say something is good or it’s great, lots of people say those things. How do I know whether I can trust you or not?…Using sensory language suggests direct experience and suggests that someone actually tried that product or service they’re talking about. And because of that, it makes the speaker seem more authentic.”
Thus, bringing us full circle with Alexis Barber’s message about the importance of authenticity for influencers. Is finding that authenticity easy? It’s a big source of struggle, Barber admits. But in the end, she stresses, “the secret weapon is you,” whether you’re promoting a company’s brand or your own.
Click here to listen to the full interview.
Conversation Starters
What is influencer marketing and how did this movement start?
What is sensory language and why is it fundamental to successful influencer marketing?
Are you an influencer on social media? Share your story in the comment section of this article!
The hero image with this story was shot by Canva.com.
As Professor Berger describes, “influencer marketing” has existed since humans learned to speak, and it is found all over the world. Whether it was my grandma telling her friends about the hot new produce shop she found that sells wonderful tomatoes, or my dad’s best friend telling him about the hidden gems to visit on our next family vacation to Greece, word of mouth has always been the quickest and most reliable way for a product to gain popularity. Because who better to trust than your closest friends and family?
Well, starting in the mid 20th century, brands started to really capitalize on this strategy of marketing by using famous celebrities as the “face” of their products. While it mostly started with luxury brands, like Audrey Hepburn becoming the face of Tiffany, almost all kinds of companies use celebrities to promote their products and services. I couldn’t even count the amount of times I’ve seen Jennifer Garner running across my TV screen to promote a Capital One credit card. While this method of marketing is sometimes more effective than the typical word of mouth method from your friends, especially in terms of luxury goods, using an idolized celebrity while recommending items for everyday use can also take away from the relatability of the product, making people less likely to purchase it.
Then came the influencer, starting in the early 2000s with the birth of social media platforms like YouTube and Instagram. Once a person gained a considerable amount of followers, they would receive sponsorships by all kinds of brands (even if it has absolutely nothing to do with their regular content) to advertise their products to their followers. The thing that makes the influencer so successful is that they are the “best of both worlds”, i.e. the world of word of mouth marketing and that of the celebrity advertisements. While we look up to influencers for their fun lives and effortless looks, there is also a sense of closeness between the viewer and the creator. Even though they have absolutely no idea we exist and could not care less about us, it still feels like a comforting FaceTime call with a friend whenever we turn their videos on.
However, with new platforms like TikTok or Instagram Reels, the number of influencers has grown exponentially, pushing influencers to find new ways to differentiate themselves from the millions of other aspiring content creators. Plus, since all that our attention span can handle is fifteen second clips, it is truly vital that influencers find ways to hook their viewers from the beginning of their videos, especially when trying to promote a product, as revenue is often determined by the number of views on the sponsored video. This is where Professor Berger’s idea of “sensory language” comes in. If you see a video of a fitness influencer describing their new favorite protein bar, you’d probably scroll within seconds. But if that influencer is showing the bar up close, raving about its gooey texture and crunchy chocolate coating, you’d probably start drooling and order a box of those bars immediately. The same notion applies even without sponsorship: if you come across a post of a person eating a sandwich, you wouldn’t even think twice. But if you see that same person eating that same sandwich, only this time they’re labeling it their “lunch mukbang” and are devouring it with such an extreme passion to the point where it’s kind of grossing you out, you’d probably still be on the way to your kitchen to recreate that same meatball sub.
But up to what point does this tactic become overwhelming and turn away viewers? How can we keep the same authenticity and relatability that led influencer Alexis Barber to fame, but still find ways to attract and captivate new viewers? The key, as it always is in life, is balance. If you start out just talking about your everyday life, your only followers will probably be your siblings (even your friends would get bored of all that mundane nonsense). Similarly, if you start every single video with some new mind-blowing stunt, you’ll be labeled as unrelatable and overwhelming (or as most teens like to say, “too much”). The key is to factor in eye-catching ideas while also remaining yourself, and always letting your true personality shine through, no matter how many viewers, likes or brand deals you have.
I think that influencer marketing is changing the nature of marketing completely.
To begin with, many companies use common strategies for marketing ; segmentation, targeting, and positioning(also known as the principle of STP) Out of those three, I believe influencer marketing is really good at segmentation, in other words, identifying and reaching target customers out of a large population.
Let’s take an example of a cosmetic company who markets their product through an influencer who focuses on skincare. Her followers would be predominantly women interested in cosmetics, those who have decent income, and those who would use cosmetic products frequently. Those information make the marketing very efficient as companies can directly reach the group they want to sell their products to. Moreover, their loyalty towards the influencer will serve as a motive to buy their products. Followers would find her more convincing than a billboard on a highway trying to sell the same product.
For those ideas, I think influencer marketing would take over conventional marketing sooner or later. Companies will seek to reach their target population through influencers, and have them serve as their marketing department.
The power of language is still one of the tools that are most often used by people for creating a connection with each other. In our digital age where algorithms and AI make up a big part of our world, it is easy to forget that simple words can still have this authentic feeling that makes people human. As Professor Berger’s research shows, there is just a magic in words like “crunchy” or “silky,” and it’s not because it’s flashy or anything, but because it leads us to think of a real experience that we have all gone through.
Alexis Barber’s story is a great example to this idea. Her success does not come from fancy words, but from a commitment to consistency and also care in what she is expressing to her audience. Alexis’s approach makes people feel seen and truly understood through her choice of language. In influencer marketing, and basically all parts of life, this is the basic foundation for creating trust. What if more people chose their words with the same kind of purpose and not just content creators? What if we start to speak to each other in order to connect and not just to impress?
This article perfectly reframes success as something that is deeply human. It leads us to slow down a bit and to know that sometimes the most effective message is not the loudest one, but the most honest and heartfelt one. As a student, a writer, and an Internet-lover, I am reminded that language shouldn’t only be a strategy, it should be a responsibility.
This article made me reflect on how easy it is for influencers to fabricate their authenticity, and how viewers feed into the illusion. Contrary to the article’s perspective, I think inauthenticity is what draws in an audience and makes influencers stand out. Especially in a digital age, everyone is constantly chasing perfection. We idealize the lifestyles we see online, and we forget to care that they might be curated and unrealistic.
Social media has turned into an escape from reality. Viewers aren’t looking for authenticity anymore; they want to see a fantasy. Rather than appreciating an influencer who captures a normal life, we are intrigued by videos that exaggerate a lifestyle we want. Viewers love to be in the pursuit of the unattainable, so we follow deceptive influencers’ recommendations to get even an inch closer to our goals. Moreover, we love to hear key sensory words that falsely reassure us that products are worth buying. Knowing the viewers will take the bait, influencers continue to gain popularity by promoting products they have never used. This is especially applicable to TikTok shop items.
It has become second nature for content creators to promote anything for a paycheck. They know that overemphasizing the results of a makeup product will entice people more than truthfully showing its effects. Real content creators have been pushed into the shadows, and authenticity is becoming undervalued.
It’s all a big game of Follow the Leader, and we as viewers love to play along. We enjoy following the glamorous trendsetter, but ignore the relatable voices of small creators.
Hi Alyssa! I really enjoyed reading your comment on the reality of the influencer world today. While I do agree with your claim that we are no longer chasing authenticity but an unrealistic, perfect lifestyle, I think that what we truly crave is perfection disguised as reality. For example, the influencers that get the most views are those that go on lavish, thousand-dollar vacations, then come home and spend a lazy Sunday like the rest of us. I think the whispers of reality embedded into a crazy, unattainable lifestyle give us viewers false reassurance that influencers we idolize are just like us on the inside, and if they are able to achieve this exciting lifestyle, then we should also be able to. The strive to match an influencer often makes followers feel insecure, especially when they cannot achieve the looks and lives of influencers who they thought were just average, down-to-earth human beings.
I also liked your explanation on how creators lure their viewers into purchasing their products by using sensory words. This strategy exploits the idea that viewers idolize influencers and do everything possible to achieve the ideal lifestyle. Viewers are enchanted by words like “silky”, “shiny”, “smooth”, which immediately leads them to purchase the product the influencer is marketing, in hope that this new item will elevate them into the perfect realm of the influencer world. What is truly disheartening is that after purchasing a product marketed by an influencer and realizing it was just an ordinary item, viewers continue to follow and idolize that same influencer out of desperation to escape their own mundane lives.
This article hits on something real. Influencer marketing depends heavily on “authenticity,” but that authenticity is often just a carefully crafted act. Berger’s research on sensory language proves influencers need to sound like they’ve actually used a product to build trust, yet most are just selling more consumerism disguised as connection. Barber’s focus on being yourself is refreshing, but the whole system still feeds a culture obsessed with buying stuff we don’t need. So yeah, authenticity matters, but only if it’s not just another tactic to drive endless consumption.
Professor Berger’s comments on word-of-mouth marketing in particular stood out to me from this article, simply because of how true it is and how strongly it affects marketing today. This marketing concept is present in every aspect of our media presence, whether it be scanning reviews on a book before reading it, asking friends for product recommendations, or, as pointed out in this article, hearing an influencer on social media promote it. We all want to see authenticity before engaging with or purchasing a product. Nowadays, an ad from a brand is hardly enough incentive for product interaction. When hearing directly from the brand itself, there tends to be skepticism due to a likely lack of transparency or honesty when it comes to the marketed product, and for good reason – what company would be stupid enough to promote all the flaws, errors, and disadvantages in their product or service? This is where the appeal of using influencer marketing comes in so strongly. Companies take advantage of the desire for authenticity before purchasing a product by using influencers to promote that product in a way that appeals to viewers, but also comes across as real and honest.
However, in my perspective, this new use of influencer marketing is slowly building up a wall of inauthenticity that companies are so strongly trying to avoid. Alexis Barber stated at the beginning of this article how she believes that authenticity is the most important quality that influencers should possess. But how can this authenticity even be present when so many influencers today are being paid by companies to promote their product? When it’s clear that there is not real genuineness behind an influencer’s recommendation due to sponsorship/brand promotion, the authenticity that companies are trying so hard to create will just fall short again and again. While influencer marketing has become a tactic that companies see as more advantageous, I think it will ultimately never compare to true and effective word-to-mouth marketing (like a recommendation from a friend) that companies barely have any control over. This poses a tough question: how can fruitful and genuine marketing be created by companies, when this marketing is largely something that companies cannot control?
Every Saturday around 1:30pm, is my designated time to watch youtube and eat lunch on the side, I say side because the food is almost always gone by the first ad. But this time it’s more like finishing the leftover bag of Garden Salsa Sun Chips before finishing the first paragraph of this article.
As I read this article and read through to the section about the impact that sensory language directly contributes to grabbing the attention and drawing out authenticity in viewers were Mukbangs.
Mukbangs, originating in South Korea in 2010 truly began to be a springboard for content creators all over the world in ways that were different and unique for the time. Mukbangs aren’t popular because of what the creator is saying in the videos, sometimes they’re not saying anything at all, but because of how the content makes the viewer feel. This is attributed to a few things that Professor Berger hits right on the money with.
1. ASMR, an acronym for Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response, is something I fall victim to everytime I watch a mukbang. The slurping, chewing, and crunching sounds all trigger a sense of satisfaction and tickle my brain for more. It really emphasizes the power sensory has over words
2. Feeling. Sensory language makes people FEEL something, whether that’s hunger, nostalgia, curiosity, or comfort. The sizzle of a juice dripping KBBQ or the crunch of the newest menu from Taco Bell doesn’t require translation; it’s universally understood with just visual and auditory communication.
Just before this article, I posted another comment on an article titled, This Lecture Got Me Thinking, Which Brand Would I Defend?, and ironically this article got me thinking, and provided yet another valuable insight to consider about branding. Mukbangs that highlight the sensory experience of eating reinforces the idea that it’s sometimes really not about values at all. When people buy from a brand, they don’t buy just because of what it stands for or what the product offers but for the extra defining logo of the brand that makes it double the price. We like to believe our choices are always based on belief or identity, but often they are rooted in other factors like emotional satisfaction or financial benefit.
This idea makes it way into influencer sponsorships that I often feel can truly be convincing but other times, blatantly ingenuine. When influencers are sent PR in exchange for talking about the product online, it blurs the line of influencer authenticity vs. performative promotions. Dr Reed, from the same article would agree that influencers promote a product because they actually love the product and it aligns with their beliefs: “Cruelty-free,” Eco-Friendly,” Ethically Produced” but this isnt always the case. When influencers are driven by the financial profit through sponsorships with brands they’d never actually use outside of the paid collaboration undermines Professor Berger’s idea that influencer marketing is so effective because it comes from a place of personal experience and authenticity. Because in the end, that’s not building trust, that’s performing.
Circling back to my comment on the article, This Lecture Got Me Thinking, Which Brand Would I Defend?, consumers who turn to fast fashion out of financial restraint rather than belief mirror ingenuine influencers who make decisions that come from weighing driven by monetary limitations of incentives rather than personal values.
Reading this article was oddly emotional for me. I’ve spent the past two years growing as a sports creator on RedNote, reaching the Top 50, signing brand deals, doing product placements, and figuring out sometimes painfully how much of myself to show online. When Alexis Barber says “authenticity is the secret weapon,” I nod. But I also flinch a little. Because the truth is, being authentic sounds simple until you realize you’re expected to schedule it, script it, and make it convert.
I still remember one brand asking me to “just act natural” while hitting five required talking points in a 30-second post. I tried. I smiled into the camera. I redid the take nine times. When the post finally went live, the comments said I looked “so effortlessly real.” I don’t know whether to laugh at that or cry.
That’s why I found Professor Berger’s insights on sensory language so relevant and so uncomfortable. He’s right, of course. Words like “sticky,” “crunchy,” “smooth,” and “burn” are powerful. I’ve tested them. A caption with “ankle burning after deadlifts” will always outperform “tough leg day.” But once you know this, you can’t unknow it. Once you realize “sounding real” gets better metrics than being real, the whole game starts to feel like a performance.
And yet, something still draws me back.
Maybe it’s because every once in a while, I break the rhythm. I post a shaky, unedited clip from a tournament. I write a late-night note about fear, or failure, or that awful in-between feeling after a loss. And those are the posts that people DM me about. Not to say “you’re amazing,” but to say, “Thank you for saying that. I feel it too.”
That’s the part of influencer work that’s hard to measure, but impossible to fake. It’s not in the likes or reach or brand dashboards. It’s in the quiet moments when someone on the other side of the screen feels less alone.
I’m still figuring this out. Still learning what kind of creator I want to be. I’m not against marketing, far from it. I think good marketing can be honest, human, even healing. But I also think we, as creators, need to hold ourselves accountable for the trust we’re asking people to give us. Maybe sensory words help. Maybe so does being “relatable.” But none of it matters if we forget why we’re speaking in the first place.
Not just to sell. But to connect. And to be understood as a person.
What really stood out to me was her advice about being yourself online. It sounds simple, but it’s actually hard. I see so many people (including me sometimes) trying to act a certain way just to get likes or fit in. But she’s right that the stuff that blows up is usually just people being real. Like, why do we try so hard to be something we’re not when the secret is literally just… us?
Also, the whole sensory language thing from that Wharton professor was interesting. I never thought about how saying something is “juicy” instead of just “good” could make people trust you more. This makes me wanna pay more attention to how I talk about stuff, not just online but even in regular convos.
Anyway, this article low key motivated me. Maybe I don’t have to wait until I’m older to start something cool. Maybe just being myself and staying consistent is enough. (But first, gotta survive these midterms.)
What do you guys think: would you ever wanna be an influencer, or is it too much pressure?
Language is extremely powerful—not only to sell, but to establish trust. It wasn’t until Berger’s research that I started to see that influencers don’t gain followers based on aesthetic or charisma, but on signaling real experience. This realization hit me hard because I have had skepticism towards influencers and influencer culture in the past, but now I view it less as manipulation and more as a mirror of the human condition and what people have been longing for: authenticity, in an overly corporatized marketplace. Recently, I tried to advertise a fundraiser for a food and drinks school club on Instagram, and I realized that posts where I encouraged people to think and experience the food in a more sensory way (e.g., warm gooey brownies instead of bake sale) got far better engagement. I didn’t realize this was backed by science until now. I wonder how many businesses are successful because they’re better at tapping into the human instinct rather than simply providing a better product. This research has reminded me that it isn’t about bait and switching people with effective marketing, it’s about creating the experience through honest, human communication.
I like business and tech. Something in this article opened my eyes to something new—the psychology of words. I never knew how changing just one word, like “you” to “people” changes the message. This was relevant to me because I’ve been creating short educational videos for my placement with Crackd where being interesting and relatable is key.
It reminded me marketing isn’t about slick images or cold facts—it’s about talking to other human beings. As CEO of an AI driven education business called NeuroEd I spend most of my time thinking about technical stuff like how to present content and transform learning processes. But this article made me realise how we communicate with people—even with tech products—is just as important as the product itself.
In taekwondo where I’ve competed extensively communication is key—between the player and the coach and between competitors and judges. The words you use can make people happy or sad, inspire or intimidate. Whatever you’re doing whether you’re promoting a business, speaking to a judge or helping others how you use your words is important.
I remember to be a good business owner, artist or leader I must be clear in what I say and how I say it. Thanks for the reminder.
Influencer marketing is when companies ask influencers to promote a product in exchange for money. Companies are starting to spend more money on this type of marketing because people want a more personalized message. I think that the influencer movement has become more and more prevalent in the modern era due to wanting a more personal connection. Traditional corporate marketing may seem more distant and unrelatable compared to someone directly talking to you through a screen.
What struck me about Alexis barbers story is how authenticity beats algorithms in today’s marketing landscape. “In the early 2010s, people were starting to realize that word of mouth is much more impactful than traditional advertising (selling products on TV and radio). We trust it much more because it feels like it comes from a peer rather than a company and it can be much more targeted,” the movement began in early 2010s when companies noticed that word of mouth was more influential and this insight immediately stood out to me as this shows the true human psychology behind advertising and helped me understand why influencer marketing became so powerful. Unlike tv or radio ads, hearing about a product from someone you follow online feels personal and trustworthy, like advice from a friend. It’s not just about reaching people but it’s about reaching them in a way that feels authentic and reliable, which is exactly what today’s audiences respond to compared to before.
Taking the story of Alexis Barber who rose to fame by posting her first video at age 21 and now has 118000+ followers on TikTok alone. She turned content creation into a six figure income, working with over 70 brands like Bumble and Rare beauty, and even built her own lifestyle brand and product businesses. She exemplifies how influencers operate today, not just as content creators but as entrepreneurs, strategists, and marketers.
What i have learnt is what actually makes influencer marketing effective is the authenticity, consistency and sensory language usage. Alexis Barber emphasizes that being yourself and having great connection with your audience is key and brands prefer influencers who genuinely believe in the product. Consistency and personal branding play a big role in effectiveness as regular posting and sticking to a recognizable identity or message make influencers stand out. And finally sensory language boosts engagement as shows in Bergers research using sensory words like juicy,silky,crispy helps build trust and makes posts 11000 times more likely to get likes and comments on TikTok. These words suggest real experience, making the influencer seem more credible and engaging.
“In 2024, the global influencer marketing spending reached $24 billion, up from $21.1 billion in 2023, showing its growing importance in business. Influencers like Alexis Barber represent the new face of modern marketing: young, entrepreneur, tech-savvy, and authentic.
Influencer marketing evolved from simple word-of-mouth into a billion dollar industry, driven by authentic online personalities like Alexis Barber. Its success relies on genuine engagement, personal storytelling, and strategic communication.
As a teenage girl growing up alongside the birth of social media and the subsequent rise of influencer culture, the topic of influencer marketing is particularly thought provoking.
With brand-related content having graced users’ algorithms across platforms for much of the past two decades, I find it fascinating to understand how this form of word-of-mouth marketing transformed. While the article states that the influencer market “… is always evolving – in part due to intrepid influencers like Alexis Barber, as well as academic research…”, I’d argue that the rise of new social media platforms also brings with them changing user priorities and consumption trends. Since the initial growth of YouTube and Instagram influencers during the 2010s, TikTok’s rising popularity over the past few years has brought a refreshing informality to the world of picture-perfect, carefully edited content, largely due to creators’ use of sensory language in promoting authentic-feeling videos.
While true for many popular platforms in the past, TikTok’s unique structure, often copied but not replicated, blurs the power held by nano, micro, mid-tier, macro, and mega influencers with far greater ease and frequency than before. In today’s world controlled by our shortening attention spans, TikTok’s short-form video format appeals to brands for its likelihood of gaining more impressions per video on average. The dominance of the For You Page over individual creators combined with its autoplay feature allows any user’s post to gain rapid, widespread visibility, especially if they relate to established trends. In contrast to content featuring the stereotypical, glamorous influencer lifestyle idolized during the previous decade, TikTok users seem to enjoy the down-to-earth day-to-day videos posted by users with anywhere from twenty to twenty million followers equally or even more so.
As makeup, clothing, and even food products, whether in the introduction or maturity stages of their life cycles, are constantly going mega-viral, brands can hugely benefit from “haul” culture and product recommendations among other categories of user-generated content. With extravagant brand trips criticized for being out of touch and paid sponsorships deemed inauthentic, I believe UGC has the potential to reform influencer marketing away from its current definition as “‘…[paying] an…online individual who has some sort of following, to talk about [products and services] and share [a] message’”. Instead, the increased user interest in watching unpaid PR hauls and the developing norm for influencers to deny any formal brand deal when praising a product reflect UGC’s rising influence over the market among a budding shift away from paid brand partnerships. Additionally, the ability for creators to reply to comments like “Where is your top from?” or “What restaurant is that?” with another post allows viewers to be directly involved in the creation of UGC without ever posting on their own accounts.
Relating to Mills’ Conflict Theory, a structure of thinking I’ve become particularly interested in over the past year, the interconnectedness between the masses and the power elite promoted by TikTok’s more casual nature means that individual users have more power to affect influencers’ content and reputation compared to any other popular platform. As such, I’ve personally noticed a growing trend where brands from numerous industries see the value in utilizing TikTok’s interactive features to strengthen their brand personality. By commenting and engaging with everyday fans as if they were just another user, brands can craft personable stories and build genuine relationships with their fans effectively and at no high cost, whether monetary or timewise.
Similar to Aleix Barber’s message, I believe that the most powerful part of building a brand image on social media is sharing your personal story. Our story is what makes us unique, and it’s what makes our content relatable to people scrolling through their feeds. In a study conducted by Kelsey Bishqemi and Michael Crowley from Norwood High School, published in the Journal of Student Research, TikTok was proven to have the best algorithm. The study tested identical posts on brand-new TikTok and Instagram accounts. The TikTok posts received far more attention. Why? Because TikTok’s algorithm is designed so that even accounts with zero followers can go viral.
The platform will show your content to users who are most likely to connect with it. This could be people in your region, people who engage with similar videos, or those who’ve liked or commented on related content. That’s why being authentic matters so much, because when we share our real stories, TikTok matches us with people who relate. I’ve experienced this personally. All the skincare and makeup products I use today came from seeing relatable creators on TikTok. As an Indian girl, I used to feel like most makeup didn’t match my skin tone, and the makeup I used always looked ashy or gray on my skin. Then I came across a TikTok influencer with the same skin type and the exact same struggles. She recommended the Fenty Skin Tint, NARS concealers, and Saie blush, and I bought them almost immediately. She was authentic, and that made me trust her.
I feel like most people think that they need to fit a certain stereotype to do well online. But it’s actually the opposite. Social media platforms are built to connect you with the right audience, so the best thing you can do is be yourself.
I bought my first “influencer” product back in middle school after watching a YouTube review of a gaming mouse. The creator Intel edits swore the mouse gave him a slight edge in every game he played. I could almost feel myself clicking faster just by listening, so I begged my parents to buy it for me. A single video and a few well chosen words, turned a random ad into a must have tool.
That wasn’t my first interaction with online creators, though. In 4th grade I stumbled onto Dude Perfect’s trickshot videos. Even that video carried a sponsorship segment at the end, proof that companies had already noticed the power of popular channels and a reminder that influencer marketing isn’t new at all.
So, what exactly is influencer marketing? At its core, it’s a collaboration: a company supplies a product, and an influencer shows or mentions it to the audience. As the influencers grew, brands can precisely outreach more targeted audiences. Today, plenty of shoppers believe in influencers more than a banner ad.
Back in the day, brands relied on TV ads with famous spokesmen or spokeswomen telling us what to buy. Influencer marketing feels different because it happens on social apps where we can comment, ask questions, and even see the product in real time. The creator comes across more like a helpful friend than a distant celebrity, which makes their advice feel personal and believable.
But why does influencer marketing work so well? The Wharton article The Power of Word Choice in Influencer Marketing points to sensory language. Words that tap our five senses—“smooth,” “punchy,” “blindingly bright”—make an item feel real before we ever touch it. In Intel Edits’ mouse video, the reviewer kept saying the clicks sounded “sharp” and each movement registered on screen with “lightning-quick” speed. Those simple details painted a picture stronger than any list of technical specs.
I’m not an influencer myself. However, I’m surrounded by influencers every day scrolling past their gear reviews, skincare tips, and online side hustle schemes to make quick money. Their language shapes the way I think about products, often without me noticing. That raises a question for all of us: Are we buying things we truly need, or things that just sound vivid and exciting?
Of course, the answer isn’t to shut off every ad. Honest creators can still point us toward useful gear, as my new mouse really did improve my game. The trick is balance. Brands should respect their audiences, influencers should share the flaws along with the perks, and viewers should consider why they want the item and why the creator is recommending it. A quick scan of independent reviews or specs can turn sensory hype into a well informed purchase you’ll actually be glad you made.
When I first read this article, I thought I was going to walk away with a few tips on influencer marketing. Instead, I found myself rethinking the way I communicated and the power of word choice with my discord server. What struck me most was not Alexisr’s followers or brand deals. It was the difference she described between being visible and being real, and how easy it is to lose your voice in society today.
I’m a high school student who runs an online game token trading community on Discord. That might sound small compared to the scale Alexis is working on, but I have found the challenges are surprisingly similar. How do you hold attention? How do you make people care? When I first started building the server, I tried to model it after other successful communities. I copied their model, their structure, and even their channel names. But it didn’t feel right, and more importantly, it didn’t work. People didn’t stay, thinking that the copy of another server would always be worse than the original. It wasn’t until I stopped trying to be like everyone else and started coming up with creative, original ideas that people began to join and engage. I learned that it is very difficult to be better than others as a copy.
My discord server eventually grew to over 1100 members. I introduced weekly giveaways, coded custom bots tailored to the server’s needs, community building events, and even launched a recommendation system where people could give recommendations to make the server better. Through this process, I started to see how much the way I communicated shaped how other people engaged and how important advice is. When I hosted a giveaway using vivid, specific examples, more people joined it. When I described a giveaway in vague or generic terms, they scrolled past and did not realize there was one. It was entirely the difference of one word, “huge giveaway” or “big giveaway.” Even in a space made entirely of text, language had power. That is where this article truly clicked for me.
Reading this article about influencer marketing helped me connect my experience to the larger picture. Alexis talks about authenticity. Professor Jonah Berger calls it credibility, and ties it to the way we use language. His research on sensory words was especially eye opening. I had never thought that words like “juicy” or “crunchy” could make a creator more believable, but it makes complete sense. When someone uses words that bring a physical feeling into the mind of the reader, it suggests they have actually experienced what they’re talking about. That kind of language builds up trust faster and is more reliable than big promises ever could.
After reading this article, I have been paying more attention to how I describe things in my writing and conversations. When I share new ideas for the server or pitch a project to friends, I do not just say it is fun or interesting. I try to connect to physical or emotional senses like what reactions they might have, or how it felt when I first tried it. When I do that, people engage more. They ask questions, offer suggestions, and seem genuinely interested. Now I learn that communication is not about making something sound cool. It is about helping someone feel what you felt.
One line from this article has stayed with me more than anything else. Alexis says, “If you’re too afraid to be yourself, you’ll stay stagnant.” I have felt that fear. I have worried that my ideas are too small, that my thoughts are not original enough, or that my voice does not matter in such a loud online world. But this article reminded me that what matters most isn’t sounding perfect. It’s showing up honestly and saying what I really mean, even if the words aren’t flawless.
This article did more than teach me about influencer marketing. It helped me understand how to shape the way people experience my ideas. It helped me see the link between honesty, specificity, and influence. Whether or not I ever grow a public platform like Alexis Barber, I know I will carry these lessons into every digital project, every pitch, and every space where I want people to listen and care.
From the beginning of social media, millions of people have indulged themselves on the internet to become the highlighted influencers among TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, and beyond. In this case, Barber, who has succeeded, would be the one whom people desire to ask about the strategies. This is where internet marketing comes into play.
Barber emphasized authenticity and consistency. The key ingredient to realizing these two aspects is being themselves. I couldn’t agree more with this idea because even in the untact online world, trust between the viewers and influencers makes a difference in the decision to click the follow or unfollow buttons.
Since my childhood, I have been bombarded with mind-boggling sensory words that piqued my curiosity all the more. For instance, “Ryan’s World” on YouTube never disappointed me with his eventful unboxings of “super-squishy mesh slime balls” that “pop with gooey colors.” Not only those, but the videos of ASMR also validated my excitement about the sensory experiences that I gained from molding my slime. I’m sure those videos emptied many parents’ pockets to buy the most exquisite slime and toys advertised throughout daily, updated videos. Those influencers were so skilled at mesmerizing children’s minds, including mine, with their use of sensory words. They engaged the hearts, minds, and bodies of many children.
The sound that I’m drawn to is the reward we gain from playing with those toys and listening to the YouTube videos, as well as the demonstrations full of rich sensory words, and witnessing the ever-spiking likes. Those YouTube shows and their hosts seemed more authentic: they genuinely showed an interest in what their viewers wanted.
It is essential to consistently appeal to the viewers’ sensory experiences so that the online videos come to life—those influencers’ dedication to update the videos to satiate the viewers’ expectations and curiosities.
I used to think influencers were just walking billboards who flash brand names for likes. But Alexis Barber’s story and Professor Berger’s research completely changed that view. What Alexis does isn’t just product placement. It’s relationship-building. By doing so, she creates what behavioral economists call the “trust premium,” which means people are more likely to buy from someone they feel connected to. As Daniel Kahneman explains in Thinking, Fast and Slow, people often make intuitive and emotional decisions. I’ve noticed this situation myself. I’ve bought things from creators whose posts felt real, even when I hadn’t planned to. That shows how powerful this kind of marketing can be.
However, if trust is mainly used to sell things, does it end up hurting the real connection between people? When everything feels like an ad, it can be hard to tell what is genuine and what is just trying to persuade you. If that happens, I’m not sure this kind of marketing will work in the long run. But for now, Alexis taught me that being yourself isn’t just good advice. It’s also good business.
I never expected that micro-influencers with significantly smaller following counts that I am used to seeing could accomplish so much success. Yet, Alexis Barber has made me reconsider my misconceptions about the influencing world. Having built a six-figure business and collaborating with high-end brands, Alexis Barber advises that, “The only thing that really will pop off is when you bring something new to the table. And usually, it’s just you being yourself.” This quote highlights the key differentiator between influencers who are successful and those who are unsuccessful: authenticity and not follower counts.
Duolingo, one of the most widely known linguistic platforms, represented by an iconic owl mascot with a vibrant online personality, enables the brand to build trust and emotional connection with its users. In fact, this emotional connection is the reason that Duolingo’s shift to AI-generated lessons sparked outrage from its fans who viewed its adoption of AI as a betrayal of its famed reputation. Therefore, Duolingo’s rise and fall have all been driven by its customers’ perception of its human authenticity
Although Barber does not have one of the largest influencer followings, she has built a six-figure business, wrote a meaningful book, and collaborated with over 70 brands, most of which even some multi-million follower creators can’t accomplish. Alexis Barber’s story showed me how success in the new value-focused creator community is defined through authenticity and loyalty rather than sole numbers on a profile. More importantly, it has inspired me, an aspiring influencer, to rethink what it means to truly build success rather than compromising my unique spark in pursuit of fame and followers.
As someone who actively posts on TikTok and other social media platforms, this article prompted me to pause and ask myself: Am I being authentic, or simply visible? Alexis Barber’s journey of building her brand through authenticity stirred something inside me. In a world bombarded by filters and constructed personas, her point – authenticity becoming “the secret weapon” – left me in contemplation.
I often find myself stuck in between two instincts – the urge to be candid, and the urge to post something that is trending. I had once posted a video on burnout – which was unpolished and raw – only to find myself deleting minutes after. I thought it would look unprofessional, too honest, and not “on-brand.” Afterwards, I deleted countless videos over minor errors – a mumbled sentence, awkward lighting, my face at a slightly odd angle. The emotional cost of crafting my emotional response was significant.
What was the most surprising for me was the very notion that “the ick” we at times feel towards influencer content comes from the lack of trust. As Berger and Barber point out, authenticity is not always about sharing the truth. It is rather about how to choose to share it. Barber’s research on sensory language made me believe that the most authentic posts are the ones that can show, not tell. For instance, when an influencer describes a product as “a buttery coal that glides like a balm,” I listen not because of its polished tone, but it feels lived.
Constantly living out perfection not only exhausts creators, but it pushes away the audiences. When creators only show their lives through precise cuts, pre-planned narration, and perfect edits, we cannot offer people something to connect with. Authenticity is the ability to allow your audience to see themselves in you. While hiding what we think to be “too raw,” we might risk losing the elements that make us truly worth listening to.
I believed Barber’s success was more than an inspiration. I saw it as a road map. She convinced me that being vulnerable online is not a weakness. It is almost a strategy – not in a performative sense, but rather an intent to establishing something that lasts. Trust. It doesn’t compare to metrics.
This article gave me something more than a content advice. It made me rethink what influence truly means. Why do we create? Do we create to be believed, or to be seen? From now, I want to live the former.
Professor Berger’s research allowed me direct insight into his mind, his perspective and experiences recording a nagging feeling that I’ve had my whole life: that words don’t just describe experiences, but they truly create them, weaving the magic through a singular adjective. When I started purposefully implementing sensory languages in branding projects and my own company, it only strengthened the knowledge that I had, the belief in the power of words, the true depth to them. It opened my eyes to the texture, the five senses that are allowed to explore and wander beyond their physical capacities, dreaming– because essentially, when youre exposed to words on a page, the only true limit is the limits of your imagination, of the experiences that you can truly weave. I realized that a cookie isn’t just good– it’s warm, it’s chewy, it’s laced with bittersweet chips. The feeling after biting into it isn’t just pleasant, it’s calming, it’s enjoyment, it’s leisure and true joy. You see, that is the difference between reading about a product and truly craving it, through the words crafted by the companies, through sensory language.
THAT is the future of branding, as branding shifts from company centered to implementing exceeding experiential values into the brand, selling not items, but experiences. This is where influencer marketing, born from the power of word of mouth and transformed by social media, is truly a method where brands gain trust. When traditional advertising begins to fade, companies turn to people with platforms and established personalities and presence. Influencers become the bridge between brand and buyer, because they were able to weave experiential branding into the essence of the brand, allowing the market to FEEL it.
However, a brand purely having a backstory won’t be enough to invoke the feelings of the easily bored new generations. With millions of voices online, only voices that resonate with you, that you can truly relate with and understand, get remembered the next time you decide where to make a purchase. This is essentially why sensory language is so fundamental to branding in this area of rising experiential value, because it signals direct, positive experience and credibility with the emotions. For example when someone says a protein bar is “nice,” we scroll, but what truly gets us to linger is when they use sensory language, transforming the sentence, “gooey, with a crunchy, dreamy chocolate shell that crackles under your bite, temptation at your teeth.” Sensory language turns advertisements into true experiences.
I’m not a full-time influencer, but I’ve developed my brand and helped build others, and in every caption, tagline, and product description, I’ve woven sensory words like silk into strategy, to truly create a connection. In this era where attention is scarce and loyalty even scarcer, the right wording is gold. This is why I believe brands today are becoming more than just businesses that exist to sell their product to their market, to create tangible revenue, but they are becoming belief systems. Just like their beliefs, their mantra must live in every single word that they say, allowing their every syllable to be tainted with honey, smooth and powerful, allowing their customers to be pulled into their spell of sustenance.
This article truly reminded me why I love branding in business, because when it’s done right it’s not merely about performance, it’s about presence, the version of your brand that you are creating through experiences, even if it is the experience of mere, mighty words.
So yes, I could just say “words are important.”
But it’s not until you TASTE a world like “velvety,” HEAR the crunch in “crisp”, or FEEL the slow melt of “tempting warmth” on your tongue that you truly realize:
THAT is the difference sensory language makes– it doesn’t say something. It takes you by the hand, and lets you live it.
I’ve always wondered if any influencers are being their real selves. I couldn’t imagine showing myself on camera, faced with millions of strangers that could criticize my every move. In a world of eight billion people, how many people show their authentic selves? Not just online, but in life. How many people are brave enough to be authentic to their friends? Their classmates? Their family? All these influencers you see online are people too. They are not perfect like they seem on camera.
With hundreds of new trends spreading, everybody strives to fit in with the group. Teenagers especially, love to bathe themselves in a world of fiction and social media. I know firsthand how it feels.
I remember when my mom first introduced me to the brand “Lululemon.” I wasn’t impressed with the clothing. She dragged me around the shop, telling me about each piece she had and how comfortable they felt. I had absolutely no interest in being there. Fast forward a couple years later; I hear the brand “Lululemon” more and more from my friends. All the popular girls at school are wearing it. I begged my mom to go shop. I have a closet full of Lululemon clothes now. Still, I’ve always eyed these black shorts that my friends all told me they loved. It’s plain, black, no special design, just the logo. They were over $60 and no different from other $20 shorts. My mom flat out said no. She explained to me that I was buying it for the brand, not the actual clothing. And then it hit me. They are not just selling the piece, they are selling the tag that comes with it: the tag that makes you “cool”.
I’m still afraid of what happens if I don’t fit in. I’m scared of being outcasted. I care too much what people think of me. I’m obsessed with making myself seem flawless due to all these seemingly perfect influencers I watch. Not just me, but just about every person in the world feels this way. Social media contributes largely to this. This trend has got to stop.